Meaningless love
by Sonic'sBoom91
Summary: What will Malon do when she has to choose between her child hood friend and the man of her dreams? How will they react when she finally chooses? Will Link feel unwelcome to the ranch or will Kace feel betrayed by the one person he protected? Rated T for safety.
1. Prologue

**Alrighty then. New story time. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up easier than all of my others. This is also my first Zelda fic I've ever written on this site. So as always, review and tell me how much of a crappy job I'm doing! Chao!**

Prologue

"This storm ain't letting up any time soon it seems." A short mustached man whispers to himself as he drives his horse drawn wagon through the dark rain.

Nothing could be heard as the wagon drove slowly across the vast green field but the sounds of hooves splashing in puddles, wooden wheels creaking and shaking, and the pattering sound the failing water made when colliding with the already wet ground.

The man slowly whipped the reigns in attempt to get the horse to move faster through the sheets of falling water. Only a moment later did he change his mind and pulled the reigns back to stop the horse as he listened closing to his surroundings.

The unholy offspring of the undead have been known to appear in any condition except for when the sun was present in the large field and they have been known to stir up trouble wherever they appeared. The sounds of clattering bones and disturbing chuckles from a child where all you needed to hear to be aware of their presence. However, this isn't what the man heard. It was the sound of a child, yes. But not the sound of laughter.

He quickly pulled a leaver next to his seat to activate a locking mechanism on the wagon to prevent it from rolling as he stood up in his seat to get a better view on his surroundings.

The sound of a child screaming in fear was heard as it echoed through the hills of the field. Although this time, it was much closer than when he heard it last.

The man quickly sat down and unlocked the wheels before cracking the reigns and directing the horse through the rain and towards the source of the scream. The quickened pace of movement gave the illusion of the rain falling more heavily on the man's face as he raced across the wet field.

A look of horror came across his face as he across a scene of death. A child was hugging a tree for security as a lone stalchild made its way towards the living. The man quickly pulled up next to the undead child and leaped off the wagon and onto the undead monster, completely crushing its weak defense under his weight. The man quickly got up and with all his might, stomped onto the empty skull, making sure the undead was once again dead.

The man cautiously looked over at the now weeping child and began to observe his surroundings. All he saw was the lone child, the remains of two stalchildren, and what appears to be an adult sprawled across the ground. He slowly made his way towards the larger human and began to inspect the robed person. He slowly pulled the robe away to reveal a woman with many bite marks and very deep claw shaped cuts. Next to her was a basket of flowers and a knife she must have used in self-defense.

After a moment to assess what had happened, the man turned and made his way to the scared child slowly, making sure not to scare him away.

"Hey there little one." He says with the most calming tone he could muster as he bent down to meet with the boy at eye level.

"W-where I-is m-my mommy?" The small boy managed to say between sobs.

The short man froze for a moment as he was hit with memories from his past. The thought of a small child being abandoned and alone after losing his mother reminded him of his own daughter and the pain and suffering she went through when the man's wife died in an accident while he was away.

"U-um… Y-your mother will be back soon. She had to lead the bad monsters away." The man managed to lie as he regained his thoughts.

"W-when will she be back?" The boy asked as more tears formed in his eyes.

"She will be back soon. But she told me to take care of you until she returned. Alright?" the man replied with another lie.

The boy began to hug the tree more upon hearing this, unsure whether or not he could trust the strange man.

"My name is Talon. What is yours?" the man asked, realizing the boy didn't trust him.

"M-my name is K-kace." The boy replied.

After replying, the man quickly stood up and looked around as he remembered the stalchildren worked in waves of packs.

"Alright. Listen Kace, more of those monsters are going to show up soon. I need you to come with me so I can keep you safe. Okay?" The man asked quickly as he turned back to the boy. "You can come back with me to my home and have a yummy Lon Lon milk. How does that sound?" The man added.

Talon knew that everyone has heard of Lon Lon milk. It was the most popular drink across the land. He hopped the boy had heard of it and would follow him without struggle. As luck would have it, Talon was right.

Hearing his favorite drink being mentioned, the boy slowly let go of the tree and slowly walked across the wet ground and into the man's now opened arms. Talon quickly picked the boy up and began to head towards the wagon as more stalchildren began to work their way out of the ground.

Talon quickly got up onto the driving seat of the wagon and cracked the reigns to get the horse moving. After getting the horse up to speed and the boy away from danger, talon slowly reached to the back of the wagon and pulled out a small blanket and placed it over the boy to keep him dry.

After a while the boy had fallen asleep in Talon's arms and the horse pulled wagon crossed under a large sign with the words 'Lon Lon ranch' imprinted on it. Talon parked the wagon and quickly carried the boy inside to get him out of the rain.

"What the hell took you so long?!" A taller mustached man yelled as Talon entered the warm house.

"Shut up Ingo!" Talon replied harshly in a whispering voice.

Talon quickly sat the sleeping boy down on his couch carefully and covered him up with a new dry blanket.

"What is the meaning of this?! Where did he come from?!" The man named Ingo began to argue in a hushed tone.

"His name is Kace! I found him alone in the rain. His mother was killed by a stalchild." Talon replied.

"So you brought him hear?!" Ingo replied.

"Ingo! I was not about to leave a small child alone in the rain doomed to be killed by the undead!" Talon answered with shock in his voice.

"What do you plan on doing? Keep him? He probably has a father somewhere out there!" Ingp continued to argue.

"I don't know yet. I'll ask him about his family tomorrow. Until then, he'll sleep in your room." Talon replied as if he had already thought this through. Which he hasn't.

"Great. So not only is there another mouth to feed, I get demoted to the couch." The taller man grumbled.

"I ought to deduct your pay for a comment like that. Now go get the wagon and horse put up properly." Talon ordered the ranch hand.

Ingo gave Talon an angered look of disapproval before turning to go out into the rain as ordered.

Talon let out a sigh and turned to the now orphaned boy as the taller man left the house. He wasn't sure what to do. Ingo was half right. He did not necessarily have the means of feeding this child. He barely had enough to feed his own daughter after he had paid Ingo his share at the end of the week. But turning this child away was not an option. He may not even have a father.

"Daddy? Is Ingo being mean again?" He heard.

He turned around to see a short red haired girl no older than five dressed in a small night gown, rub her tired eyes as she walk down the stairs from her room.

"No sweet heart. He and daddy where just having an issue. Go on back to bed." He replied.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" she asked in the most innocent voice he could ever hear.

"Absolutely. Go on to bed. I'll be there soon." He replied as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Alright… Good night daddy…" She said as she slowly walked back up to her father's room.

"Good night Malon." Talon said.

* * *

**This is an update. I needed to change the character's name because I suck at naming. Chapter 1 will be out soon.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Alright time for the first actual chapter. I will be updating at school at random times most likely on Monday's or Wednesdays. Please leave a review to help me improve my idiotic mindset. Chao!**

"Hey Malon?"

"Yes?"

"Do you woner what's out there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Out there. Out-side of the ranch."

"Sometimes. Daddy says he will take me with him to a big town someday to sell milk."

"Will you take me with you?"

"Absolutely!"

"Thanks Malon. What would I do without you?"

"Probably get eaten by a cucco!"

"I would not!"

"Would to!"

* * *

I've lived on the ranch for two years now. Mr. Talon saved me from some stalchildren when I was only six and brought me back to the ranch. However, Mr. Talon said he couldn't take care of me so he let Mr. Ingo do it instead. Mr. Ingo is nice. But kinda mean at the same time. I'm always helping him and Malon around the ranch. It doesn't bother me much though. I enjoy being with Malon and playing with her and her horse Epona after the work is all done.

Mr. Talon said my mother was killed by the same stalchildren I was attacked by. I don't remember much of her or my dad. It doesn't make me too sad when I think about it. But when I am, Malon always cheers me up by singing or making me laugh. She's my best friend in the whole world. I'm not sure what I would do with-out her.

…No I wouldn't get eaten by a cucco!

"Kace quit staring off into space and get back to cleaning up the horses!" Mr. Ingo yelled at me making me jump.

"Ok Mr. Ingo!" I yell back from across the barn.

I turn to the large brown horse and start to brush its fur once again. I always make sure to brush them the way Malon told me to. I don't really think it matter how they are brushed, but I do it anyways in case she is watching me from somewhere. Left to right. Top to bottom. Brush there legs first, body second, and there mane last. She says it keeps the horses calm while being brushed but I'm not so sure about that.

I grab the stool as I finish up the horse's chest and move to its mane. I rub the horse's nose and start brushing its mane.

"How are you doing Chestnut?" I ask the horse as I keep brushing. It just shakes its head in response.

Chestnut isn't really the horse's name but I just like calling him that. It matches his brown fur. Chestnut is definitely the strongest and fastest horse ever. Malon says Epona will be when she gets older. I like to tease her and say otherwise.

"His name isn't Chestnut! You're going to confuse the poor thing." Malon says in a grumpy tone with her hands on her hips as she stood behind me.

The sudden talk from behind caused me to nearly drop the brush, making me fumble around for it, trying to prevent it from hitting the ground.

"I will not! I think he likes the name Chestnut better anyways." I reply turning to face her after finally getting a firm grip on the large horse brush.

"Well lets she what he thinks then!" She says crossing her arms and turning to the horse. I do the same.

The horse just reaches its long neck down and starts to eat some hay off of the ground.

"Nope! He doesn't like it!" Malon says triumphantly.

"How do you know?" I ask turning back to her and hoping off the stool.

"He told me!" She replied, as-a-matter-of-factly.

"How do you know what he's saying?" I ask her playing along with our little game/argument.

"Because the goddess' gave me the super power to talk to horses!" She said closing her eyes and holding her head up high.

"Uh-huh. Suuuure." I reply.

"Yup!" She said with a smile. A second later, her eyes shot open in realization. "Oh yea! Dad said dinner will be ready soon! So you better hurry up!" She added before turning to leave the barn.

"Alrighty then. I'll be done in just a minute." I say turning back to Chestnut who looked up only to watch the small, red haired girl leave.

I love living here.

* * *

As usual, not much is said during dinner. The only sounds to be heard were cutlery and plates colliding together. The seating arrangement is usually always the same. Mr. Talon and Malon would sit on one end of the table with Mr. Ingo and me on the opposite side. Although I don't like them, I finish up the vegetables on my plate and push the plate forward to indicate I have finished.

"Can I be excused from the table?" I ask.

"Can?" Mr. Ingo asks back indicating my grammar error.

"MAY I be excused from the table?" I ask again after a sigh of annoyance.

"Not just yet actually. I wanted to ask you something." Mr. Talon said as he looked at me.

"Me?" I ask sort of surprised.

"Yup. How would you like to ride into Kakariko village with me tomorrow?" He asks with a smile under his mustache.

I look at Mr. Ingo for permission but he doesn't even look at me. I turn to Malon to see an excited look on her face,

"Would Malon come with us?" I ask not wanting to leave her out of things.

Malon quickly looked up her father with pleading eyes.

"Actually… No. Sorry sweet heart but someone needs to stay and help Ingo with the ranch while we are gone." He says looking at her.

Malon turns back around in her seat and crosses her arms with a pouty look on her face.

"Why can't she go and I stay?" I ask.

"Well… I didn't want to say just yet but I guess you've forced my hand…" Mr. Talon says looking back at me with a confused look on his face.

"Kace. You've lived with us for two years now and through-out these years, me and Ingo have been looking for your father. Of course since the nearest town is miles away, we haven't been able to search very well. Even when we deliver milk." He says as if he was confessing something. "Kakariko isn't the biggest town out there, but it is much bigger than this ranch and it has been hard to find anyone who knows anything about your father. However, a group of traveling carpenters have returned to Kakariko and say they used know your father." He adds as he sits back in his seat.

"So… If my dad is still alive… Do I have to leave the ranch?" I ask looking and Malon who looked surprised yet upset at the same time with this possible information.

"Well… Maybe so." Mr. Talon replies somewhat quietly, knowing it would upset both me and Malon.

I look at my plate for a moment and look over at Mr. Ingo who looked away from me. …I could be wrong, but I think he may be upset. After a moment to think it over, I slowly look back at Mr. Talon.

"When do we leave?"

* * *

I hoist myself onto the wagon seat and nearly fall off backwards do to the heavy bag I'm carrying. Luckily, Malon was behind me and saved me by swiftly pushing my back until I stood up straight once again.

"Thanks Malon…" I say sadly while looking back at her. She looked sad.

I get up onto the wagon seat and set my heavy bag in the back of the wagon, next to a crate of milk.

"…Y-you could j-just stay… With me…" Malon says to me while looking down at her big, mud covered boots as I hop back off the wagon.

"I-I know Malon… B-but I might still have a dad out there. M-maybe I'll be able to come by and visit again sometime." I reply trying to make her feel better. …I don't think it is working.

"B-but I'll just be alone again! I don't want you to leave!" Malon said loudly as tears started welling up in her big blue eyes.

"Y-you won't be alone. Y-you'll have Mr. Ingo and your dad." I say as I start to get a little emotional myself.

"B-but y-you can't h-handle yourself out there without me! Y-you'll be eaten by a-a cucco!" Malon cried as she clung to Mr. Talon's overall leggings. "I-I don't w-want him to g-get eaten!" She cried.

"Oh Malon… He isn't going to get eaten by an cucco." Mr. Talon replies with a slight chuckle.

"Y-you don't kn-know that!" Malon said, crying harder.

Mr. Ingo finished packing the last crate of milk and walked over to pull Malon away from her father. Malon quickly wiggled her way out of his grip and ran into the house in a crying fit. Shaking his head, Mr. Ingo turned away from the house and looked at me.

"She doesn't realize we may not even find his father…" Mr. Talon says as he looks towards the door. "N-not that I don't want you to find him!" He adds after a moment and turns back to me.

"H-heh… I-it's ok Mr. Talon." I say whipping off the tears forming in my eyes.

"Well Kace…" Mr. Ingo starts but stops mid-sentence as he thought for a moment. "…D-don't get eaten out there. You know, if you find your dad and all." He adds as his usually stern face softens up.

"Y-yea… Hey Mr. Ingo?" I ask as he starts to turn away to get back to work.

"Yes?" He says turning back to me. I can see his eye water up as the realization of me leaving hits him.

"…Thanks for being my dad." I say.

**Well here is chapter 1. …There was something important I wanted to say but I can't seem to think of it. Anyway, review if you read it. Not trying to beg but it keeps me sane. I'm always open for criticism as well.**


	3. Chapter 2

**I remember what I was going to say now! If you didn't notice, I did not mention anything about how Kace looked, let alone give him much of a personality as a child. That is because I want you to fill in the blanks. I want you to tell me what you think Kace looks like. However, I will eventually give him more of a personality of some sorts later on. You'll see why.**

**Also, thank you PenguinForce for the criticism. I will take what you said into account.**

**Anyway, on to the story!**

"_M-malon…" I say as I slowly open my eyes._

"_I-I'm here Kace." She replies as she holds onto my hand._

_I carefully turn my head and manage to look around the ranch covered in the moon lit sky and see a gate. I was laying on my back in the middle of the corral with my right arm twisted in an inhuman way. It hurt so badly… Yet I couldn't feel the pain._

"_A-are you a-alright? I-is Epona ok?" I ask slowly turning back to Malon._

"_H-he took Epona to the stables… I-I don't know if she's ok..." She says in-between soft sobs. "W-why would you do that?" She asked as she rubbed a damp cloth over my blackened left eye._

"_H-he we going to hurt Epona again…" I manage to say._

"_D-don't talk too much… I-I think one of y-your ribs are broken…" She says as she runs her hand over my half bare chest carefully._

_I cringe in a pain I cannot feel as she presses against a certain spot on my ribs. She recoils her hand and looks at me again with more tears in her eyes._

"_I-I'm so s-sorry…" She cried._

"…ce."

…

"…Kace."

…

"KACE!"

I let out a yawn as I slowly sit upwards and stretch. I blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the mid-morning light. I look around to see the water of a small river running out of a cave and past a bridge. I must have fallen asleep at some point…

"Time to wake up sleepy head! Were almost to Kakariko." Mr. Talon said with a somewhat upbeat tone.

I rub my eyes and then my head as it began to slightly pound after the blood rushes to it. Sleeping on a bumpy wooden seat isn't fun…

"We will be there in about thirty minutes." He says as he quickly looks back at the crates of milk to make sure none of them had cracked. "You were moving about quite a bit there. Where you dreamin?" He asked as he looked back at me for a moment.

"Uh… I don't remember…" I finally say after a moment of trying to recall any dream I might have had.

"I see. Well once we get into town, the first thing to do will be to get the milk delivered. We only have two places to deliver today so we should be finished shortly after mid-day." Mr. Talon said as he looked back to the horses.

"Alright then." I reply as I stretch my arms once more. "What kind of places are they?" I ask.

"Well one of them is an inn. It's a place where people pay to sleep in a room for a night as they travel." He explains. "The other is a bar. It's a place for adults only so I'll be handling the milk when we get there. Alright?" He adds. I just nod.

"Whelp! That's the last of it!" Mr. Talon says as he sits the last milk crate on the ground out side of the back door to the bar.

"This will be enough milk to get us through the month." The owner says as he pulls out his rupee bag to pay Mr. Talon.

"I sure hope so. If not then just send us a letter and I'll get another shipment to ya lickity split!" Mr. Talon replies with a chuckle.

"You know I will." The owner replies with a smile as he hands over the gem currency.

Mt. Talon takes it happily and waves good-bye as he gets back up onto the wagon seat and cracks the reigns. I look around wondrously as we travel across the large town in the horse drawn wagon. I have never seen so many people in one place! The people here come in all shapes and sizes. Everyone looked as if they all had something to do somewhere. It looks kind of hectic.

We continue down the large road in town until we come across a somewhat large building with two stories.

"Here is the inn. The carpenters should be staying here until they finish their work in town." Mr. Talon says as we come to a stop.

He locks the wheels in place, hops off the wagon and heads to the backside to start unloading. I get off the wagon and follow him around back to start helping. We start unloading a few crates until a tall woman walks out of the front door to the inn and welcomes Mr. Talon and me.

"Hello there Anju!" Mr. Talon greeted as he turned to face her.

"Hello there Talon." She greets back before turning to me. "And who is this?" She asks as she bends down to my eye level.

"My name is Kace." I say.

"Oh my. You must be the little boy the master carpenter was telling me about!" She said with a smile.

"I guess so. Your hair is really red. My friend Malon has red hair to. But not as dark as yours. Hers is more of an orangeish red." I say as I look at her hair.

"Well she must look very pretty then." Anju replied with a giggle.

"Yea I guess so." I say before turning back to unload crates.

Mr. Talon and Anju begin talking as we continue to unload the rest of the crates. After we finish, Anju pays Mr. Talon and welcomes us inside. Upon entering the inn, Anju walks over to the front desk to talk to a large rock like creature with a blue hat and what appeared to be a large bag on its back. Out of curiosity, I walk up behind the giant rock person and tap the back of its leg. It felt like a rock, but at the same time, like a soft egg. The large person shaped rock turned around, revealing a big red bow-tie under its… chin, and looked down at me with large purple eyes.

"Why hello there little one." It says in a deep voice.

"Hello… Mister? Um. Why are you so big and made of rocks?" I ask. Mr. Talon quickly walked up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"I apologize mister. He hasn't seen a goron before." Mr. Talon apologizes.

"Oh no need to be sorry. The little hylian was just curious." The goron replied. The goron looked down at me and held out its giant hand. "My name is Link-goro. I am a traveling goron who sells things from mountains far away." It said to me.

"M-my name is Kace. I live and work on Lon Lon Ranch but I'm here looking for my dad." I reply, cautiously shaking its hand.

"I'm sure Mr. Link-goro is busy Kace. Go sit down on the couches and I'll go talk to the master carpenter." Mr. Talon tells me.

I nod and turn to look for the couches. The inn foyer is smallish with a few people sitting at one of a few tables eating lunch. Just passed the tables was a long cushioned couch along the far wall. I walk in that direction and pass the few people who were eating. After passing and smelling the meat on their plates, my stomach growls as I realize we haven't eaten lunch yet. I get to the couches and take a seat. After a moment of staring off into space, Link-goro walks by the couch, takes off his bag, sitting it on the floor in front of him, and sits next to me. I jump slightly as the cushioned seating creaked loudly under the goron's weight.

"You look deep in thought. Something on your mind?" Link-goro asked.

"No not really. I'm just a little hungry." I reply looking up at him.

"I see. A growing man needs to eat!" The goron says with a chuckle as he reaches into his bag and pulls out small strangely colored rocks. "Here you go." He says as he hands the rocks over to me.

"Um… I don't really know what gorons eat, but I can't eat a rock." I say as I look at the small pebbles in my hands.

"Oh I know that. These are candy rocks. Almost anyone can eat them." He replies with a chuckle.

After a moment of looking them over, I stick a few in my mouth. The rocks begin to melt in my mouth leaving an assortment of flavors all over my tongue. A smile crosses my face as I enjoy the multitude of flavors. After a moment, I put a few more in my mouth and my eyes widen a bit as the assorted flavors changed with every rock.

"They won't fill that tummy of yours, but they sure do taste good don't they." Link-goro said as he smiles warmly as the site of my satisfaction.

I just look up at him and nod happily after sticking a few more in my mouth. For a long while Mr. Link-goro tells me about the many places he has been to and the many different kinds of people he has met while on his long journey across country. He also told me how the giant mountain behind Kakariko was called Death Mountain and was also his home. Apparently, a large majority of gorons live up there and they were all lead by a great goron leader called Darunia. After he had finished I began to tell him about the many years I've lived and worked on the ranch with Malon and Mr. Ingo.

Before I could finish telling him about the ranch, Mr. Talon walked out from a hallway behind the front desk and up to us. He didn't look very happy.

"Mutoh the carpenter wanted to talk to you Kace." He said.

"Ok then." I reply before getting up from my seat. "Bye Mr. Link-goro." I say turning to him. He just waves back before I turn to follow Mr. Talon to the back hall.

I wave hello to the few people standing around in the small one bed room. Mr. Talon sits on the bed and pats the spot next to him to tell me sit with him. I hop onto the bed and soon after a tall man with a snow white mustache walked up to me.

"Kace… You have grown big since last I saw you." The man said. "My name is Mutoh and your father used to work for me." He adds.

"He used to be a carpenter?" I ask.

"No not necessarily. Your father… Well. He was a strange man. He was also a family friend." Mutoh explains.

"If he wasn't a carpenter, what did he do for you?" I continue to wonder.

"Well… let me explain something first. Your father owed us money. Why he owed us money isn't important but unfortunately, he didn't have a job to provide said money. Shortly after you were born, he left you and your mother here at Kakariko and came to work for us to pay off the debt." The carpenter starts.

"Your father was our body guard of some sorts. He protected us from bandits and monsters as we traveled and kept people from messing up our work." He adds.

"So he fought bad guys and stuff?" I ask as I begin to swing my legs back and forth.

"In a sense, yes. He fought bad guys." Mutoh replied after a moment.

"So where is he?" I continue to question.

The man looked at me for a second then looked at one of the other men and made some sort of hand motion.

"Your father was a great man, but he wasn't all that great at his job. …Or any job in general. He was very accident prone." Mutoh states with a saddened look.

I don't know what 'accident prone' mean, but I guess it's not good. A moment later, the man Mutoh looked at earlier walked back with a standard sized sword and shield and handed then to the master carpenter.

"I'd like to tell you that your father fell in a great battle or in a valiant effort to protect us, but I cannot lie to you." Mutoh starts.

"We were traveling back to our home town Termina whenever we were ambushed by a pesky skull kid. Your father was about to defend our carriage when he accidentally tripped and fell off carriage. After the pesky skull kid took off with some of our supplies, we went back to search for him. He had fallen off the carriage and impaled himself with his own sword." The tall man finished.

"So… He's not alive?" I ask.

"No he is not." Mutoh replied before holding the sword out to me. "This was his very sword." He adds.

I take the sword and nearly fall off the bed from its weight. After finally lifting it up and examining it a bit, Mr. Talon takes it from me and sets it by his side.

"Probably best if you don't play with it." He says as he sets it down.

"Talon here told me how he saved you from the stalchild. He also told me about your mother." Mutoh says before looking down. "I am very sorry about what has happened Kace." He apologizes.

"…It's alright… I didn't know my father and I can bare remember my mother…" I reply after a moment.

"…I know it is not much, but we would be willing to take care of you in honor of your family." He added. I just look up at him and then to Mr. Talon.

I don't think I can do that… I can't leave Malon and Mr. Talon alone like that. They saved and raised me…

"Thank you Mr. Mutoh but… I can't leave Mr. Talon." I reply.

"Well Kace… I don't really think you have a choice… I know you don't want to leave them but Talon does not have the money to take care of you." Mutoh said with a slightly sterner look.

"B-but I can't leave them!" I say back a bit louder. Everyone can see this is upsetting me.

"Kace… I don't want you to leave either, but I can't take care of you." Mr. Talon says, trying to calm me down.

I look at him and then around the room. I begin to breathe a little harder and panic as I feel as if I'm being ganged up on. Tears start to well up as the thought of leaving Malon really hits me. I don't want to leave!

Then it hits me.

"What about Mr. Ingo?" I ask.

"…What about him?" Mr. Talon asked in a confused voice.

"Can't he take care of me?" I ask, looking back at Mr. Talon.

"Well… He does have the money to do so…" Mr. Talon replies as he looks away in thought.

Mutoh looks as if he is beginning to think as well.

"Well I guess that would work as well… However, Mr. Ingo would have to obtain legal custody of you. It also depends if Mr. Ingo really wants to or not. You would become his technical 'son'." Mutoh states after a moment. "Is that what you really want?" He asks.

I turn to him with a happier look on my face.

"If I get to stay with Malon, then yes."

**Alright. These first two/three chapters where sort of an introduction to the character and how he got into his position. Now it's time to get to the real stuff. Also, I do read back to older chapters and tend to find errors so if it looks like I update my story but it has no new chapters, I'm just correcting any errors. If you read, please review! Chao!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Okeydokie. Round 3. …Or… 4. If you count the prologue… Anyway, this one will be in 3****rd**** person so I'd like to know which style you guys like best. Anyway, on with the chapter. …And stuff.**

Chapter 3

"_Why don't you just leave me here…" Malon asks as she sat next to Kace and dabbed his eye with a damp cloth as he laid injured in his bed._

"…_I-I can't… He's my dad after all…" He replied while looking away from her after a moment of thought._

"…_That's not a very good reason…" She replied after a moment to turn away and dampen the cloth once again._

"_Well… If I left, who would protect the horses?" He asked, looking back at her once again._

"…_I would." She replied._

_Kace let out a sigh and looked at her with a somewhat angered expression._

"_You can't fight Malon. There is no way I'd leave you here to defend for yourself…" He told her._

"_And you can?" She asked as she gestured to his black, swollen eye._

"_Well… Why don't you leave? I can handle myself when Ingo isn't on a rampage… I've taken care of this ranch single handedly before." He reminded her._

"_I… I need to be here… In case dad or… Someone shows up…" Malon replies as she suddenly becomes more interested in the floor boards than her injured friend._

"…_I don't think he is coming back Malon." Kace said as he began to push himself up with a grunt._

_Malon just looked up at him with shock._

"_How dare you say that?! Do you not want father to come back and make things right for us?!" She asked in anger as she stood up in a challenging manner._

"_You know that's not who I'm talking about."_

* * *

Kace worked tirelessly at forking the fresh new hay that was shipped from the castle town. It has been three years since Mr. Ingo agreed to adopt Kace as his own son and ever since then and Kace has worked hard and pulled his own weight around the ranch. It made Ingo sort of proud to see someone work as hard as he does. He would never admit it, but he sort of loved Kace like his own son. However, he would definitely admit to being proud of all the work Kace does for the ranch at the young age of eleven. Only a year older than Malon.

Kace could feel his muscles tense up as he was beginning to wear down and get tired. He kept moving for he knew that the moment he slowed down, he would have to stop and rest. 'Only a few more…' He would think to himself, trying to give a false hope and a drive to continue working without stop. It was a trick he learned shortly after Ingo adopted him due to the amount of increased work he does around the ranch.

The fresh pile of hay slowly dwindled as he worked on it for hours on end. There was too much work to be done else-where on the ranch, and when Mr. Talon had taken Malon to deliver milk to castle town earlier that morning, it left just him and Mr. Ingo to work on the ranch for the day. He didn't mind it though. He was pretty much always happy as long as he was with the animals or with Malon. However, he sometimes tried to avoid Mr. Ingo. If he was caught he would usually just get sent back to work. Even though that didn't bother him much, he would much rather be having fun with Malon or the animals than work.

"How is the unloading coming along?" Mr. Ingo asked as he walked up to the side of the large wagon and looked inside.

"Almost done Mr. Ingo." Kace replied as he stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat off of his now wet forehead.

Ingo looked around the cart and gave a small look of content as he observed all of the small boys work.

"Alright then. After you finish this, rile up the cuccos and get them into the barn for the night. It doesn't look like those two will be back before dark so head on in and make us both a sandwich for supper after that." He said before leaving the cart. "You can be done for the day after that. You've worked hard today." He added as he walked off.

"Thank you Mr. Ingo!" Kace called out with a smile.

The thought of being done for the day gave him the extra energy he needed to finish up his work. He swiftly spun around and quickly got back to work forking hay off of the now emptier wagon. It felt like forever to him, but he finally finished after only another thirty minutes of work. With a content look of satisfaction on his face, Kace hopped off of the wagon and put the pitchfork away in its place. With a tired yet happy look, Kace marched off towards the coral wondering cuccos.

"Oh where is he… I hope he didn't fall asleep…" Malon said to herself as she watched the large stationary castle from the bustling town below it.

She sat up on the large fountain in the center of town and began to hum her favorite tune to herself. She wanted so badly to venture out into the streets and discover so many new things. Kakariko was a large town, but she felt her father didn't do justice to the castle town when describing the difference in size and quantity of people in it. She marveled at all the colors and people in the town for a while until a small group of children approached her from the side of the fountain. See this, she hopped down and gave them a smile as they neared her.

"Hi there!" She greeted. She had seen a few other kids in Kakariko before, but she never really knew any of them. Kace was her only friend that shared a similar age.

"You're not from around here are you?" The smaller child leading the group asked.

"Nope. I'm from Lon Lon ranch! I'm here with my daddy to deliver milk to the castle!" She replied with a proud look on her face.

"Uh-huh. Suuuure." A taller kid in the farther back of the group replied.

"Hah! You can tell she's from a ranch! She's got sticks all up in her hair!" A different kid replied as he pointed at Malon's hair and began to laugh.

With a blush of embarrassment, Malon quickly began to search through her hair for anything that didn't belong in it. One of the kids walked up beside her and began to yank on her long red hair while she wasn't paying attention.

"Look how long it is! I bet you've never cut it before! Doesn't surprise me since you're just a farm girl." The boy said as he yanked harder causing her to slightly cry out. But not in pain.

"S-stop it!" She commanded as the children continued to toy with her and throw insults.

The children continued to insult her and threaten to cut off her long hair for what felt like hours to her. Malon was about to scream out in both sadness and anger before the one of the children was hit in the head by a glowing blue ball with wings. She quickly look at the floating sphere and finally identified it as a fairy after it began to change colors and zoom around the other kids' heads. Malon quickly turned to the fountain as she noticed a person like shadow being casted from its direction.

A small blonde boy wrapped in green had unsheathed a small sword and directed the sharp tip in the troublesome children's direction.

"I can think of a few other kids who need a hair-cut." He said.

* * *

"What is this?"

"It's a sandwich. …I think."

"This is a slice of bread soaked in milk and coated with salt and pepper on it."

"I don't know how to make a sandwich."

"Kace…"

Mr. Ingo sat at the table and stared at the slop of ingredients that was thrown on his plate with a slight look of disgust mixed with confusion. He looked at Kace who had the same thing on his plate as well.

"…Why does yours have a whole pickle on it?"

"I like pickles."

"…Kace. You're supposed to slice up the pickle." Ingo explained with a look of exhaustion.

He slowly lifted his and looked inside to see what appeared to be an orange floating in milk, also covered in salt and pepper.

"How… How did you even manage this?"

"I don't know. But you better eat up and save room for dessert!"

Ingo slowly looked over at the counter, almost beginning to question what sort of monstrosity that was on the plate which was placed next to the sink, but decided against it.

"Mr. Ingo?"

"…Yes?"

"I don't think I'm a cook."

"…Agreed."

* * *

Kace was happily cleaning the dishes after eating the changed menu Ingo had put into place. Apparently, a sandwich did not contain salt and pepper. …Or milk for that matter. Kace's thoughts were interrupted as the door swung open as Mr. Talon and Malon exited the cold dark night and entered the warm house. Putting the final dish aside after being cleaned, Kace quickly ran up and gave the tired Malon a welcoming hug.

"You were gone forever! It was so boring without you around to help." Kace said in the middle of the hug.

"Aw man! That sounded hard!" Malon replied as she accepted the hug.

"Alright you two. It's been a long day for us all so go get ready for bed." Mr. Talon said as he broke up the hug.

On any normal day, the two children would complain and beg to stay up longer, but they could both agree that they were ready to rest for the night. They said good-nights to Talon and Ingo before heading up to their room. After the children had left the room, Talon looked over at an angered Ingo.

"What took you so long?! You should have been back hours ago!" Ingo asked in an extremely angry tone.

"I'm sorry! Castle town was busy today." Talon tried to lie.

"Don't give me that! The winter season is near! People aren't taking the time to travel to castle town!" Ingo replied. "You fell asleep didn't you!?" He added as he began to raise his voice.

Talon quickly put his finger to his lips to shush the taller man.

"Yes yes I did! I didn't mean to though!" Talon admitted in a harsh yet hushed tone.

"How irresponsible can you get?! Leaving your own daughter in the largest city in Hyrule unsupervised while you snooze away behind the castle gates!" Ingo ranted.

"Ingo I'm not having this argument with you! If you persist to complain, I will dock your pay for two weeks!" Talon threatened.

"And leave Kace to go hungry?! Do you even care for those children's well-being?!" Ingo countered with a guilt trip.

"Don't forget who it was that rescued him and who was the one who wanted me to take him back!" Talon countered the counter.

At a loss, Ingo gave Talon an angered sneer as he turned to head up into his own room, leaving Talon alone in the small living room.

* * *

"Guess what Kace!" Malon stated with an almost unheard enthusiasm as she popped her head out from the bottom bunk and looked at the half asleep boy.

"What is it?" He replied as he turned her with a tired look on his face.

"I found him! I finally found him!" She replied with a mixture of excitement and giggles.

"Found who? I didn't know someone went missing." I said as he looked off for a moment in thought.

"No one is missing silly! Honestly Kace, you're as absent minded as a cucco." She commented. Kace wasn't sure what she meant by absent minded but he didn't think it sounded good.

"Well fine. Who did you find?" He asked with a grumpy tone.

"Him! I found the one!" She said as she tried to hold in all of her excitement.

"'The one?'" He quoted hoping she would emphasize.

"My true love! My knight in shining armor!" She replied with a burst of silent excitement.

"Your… True love?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yes! The one I plan on marrying!" She replied before jumping back into her bed.

'_…I… ...Don't like this..._' He thought.

**Well that's one way to end it. Shout out to my friend Lone Galaxy for the review. Thanks for the support from friends and please for the love of Nayru, as much as I hate it, please notify me of any spelling/grammar errors. Chao!**


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